Month: June 2022

A 25-year-old Indian national was shot dead in Maryland on Sunday morning.

The deceased, Sai Charan Nakka, graduated from the University of Cincinnati in January of 2022 and was a native of Telangana.
After he was shot, Sai Charan Nakka was taken to the University of Maryland R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center where he was pronounced dead after a while.

His father Nakka Narsimha, a retired headmaster in Telangana’s Nalgonda, said, “We did not want to send our son to the US. We wanted him to be here. I had no interest in sending him there and told him not to go.”

According to Baltimore police, the case is being treated as a homicide investigation and investigating personnel are seeking information from anyone who might have seen suspicious activity.

Shocked at his son’s untimely death, Nakka Narsimha, the father of Sai Charan said, “We did not want to send our son to the US. We wanted him to be here. I had no interest in sending him there and told him not to go.”

“We have learnt about the unfortunate death of Nakka Sai Charan on the early morning of Sunday, June 19, 2022, in Baltimore, Maryland. Baltimore police have not yet revealed more details on circumstances of death, as the investigation is still in progress,” the Indian Embassy said in a statement.

The embassy is in close touch with Sai Charan’s family and diaspora members to facilitate early repatriation of mortal remains of Sai Charan,” it further added.

Due to the ascent in racially-motivated hate crimes in the United States, the North American association of India Students (NAAIS) raised concerns about the rising cases of violence against Indian-origin students and young professionals.

“We implore officials–locally and nationally–to look into certain policies to ensure the safety of all students and young professionals who arrive in the United States. We’re reaching out to Sai Charan’s classmates from the University of Cincinnati, and we plan to hold a vigil as well,” NAAIS said.

The US has been witnessing back-to-back acts of gun violence in the country with at least 246 fatal shootings till June this year. The US is promoted to be the premier destination for higher education for Indians, but in rising instances, is unable to provide basic safety from senseless gun violence.

The May 24 massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 children and two teachers, was the bloodiest mass shooting in the United States this year, which occurred only 10 days after another shooting that killed 10 people at a supermarket in Buffalo. (ANI)

Sushmita Sen is soaking up the Maldivian sun with daughters Renee and Alisah. The ‘Arya’ actor, who is currently on a vacation in the Maldives has shared some pictures that have set the internet on fire!

Sushmita shared a string of pictures on Instagram and it looks like she is having the time of her life. In the first post, Sushmita shared a video where she can be seen taking a dive into the pool. She wrote, “I want YOU to know…you’re the love of my life. I love you guys!! #duggadugga”.

In the next photo, she is seen chilling by the pool in a black monokini. She captioned the image writing “#bliss (red heart emoji) #yourstruly #maldives #eaglesview I love you guys!!! #duggadugga”.

Sushmita also mesmerized her fans with a selfie wearing a beach hat and oversized rose-tinted sunnies.

Sushmita’s daughter Renee Sen has also been active on Instagram and has been posting pictures from their vacation. In a mirror selfie posted by Renee, she could also be seen donning a black monokini.

A few days ago Renee also posted a video where she could be heard singing the famous ‘Jab Saiyaan’ song from ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’, amidst the blue waters of the ocean. https://www.instagram.com/p/CfEFIpxlKTI/embed

Sushmita left for the Maldives on Sunday as she celebrated Father’s Day with her dad on the flight.

On the work front, Sushmita will next be seen in the third season of the Ram Madhvani series ‘Aarya’ on Disney+ Hotstar. Sushmita returned to the screen after a long hiatus for ‘Aarya’ as the protagonist.

The web series that broke records has had two successful seasons so far and has been renewed for the next one. Her daughter Renee also recently made her debut in the short film ‘Suttabaazi’. (ANI)

With the voting underway in seven constituencies in the country on Thursday, the national capital recorded the least number of voters’ turnout since 1 pm, while the Agartala segment of Tripura recorded the maximum.

26.24 per cent voter turnout was recorded in Rajinder Nagar of the national capital while 44.81 per cent voter turnout was witnessed in Jharkhand’s Mandar till 1 pm today.
As per the data, more than 45 per cent voters’ turnout was recorded in each of the four segments of Tripura.

46.56 per cent turn out was recorded in Jubarajnagar of Tripura, 53.50 per cent in Surma, and 52.16 per cent turn out of voters in Town Bardowali. Meanwhile, the capital city of Tripura, Agartala observed the highest turnover of 54.20 per cent till 1 pm.

The bypolls were necessitated in these seats due to the resignations of the legislators in two seats, disqualification of an MLA in one, and the death of one of the MLAs midterm.

The Atmakur constituency of Andhra Pradesh also witnessed a voters’ turnout of 44.13 per cent till this noon.

Notably, in the national capital, 1,64,698 comprising 92,221 Male; 72,473 Female; and four Third Gender voters, including 591 PwD Electors, 39 Visually Impaired Electors, and 64 Service Voters will be deciding the fate of the candidates of Rajinder Nagar bypolls.

In Jharkhand, the district administration has put in place a three-tier security layer around the 433 polling booths for fair and violence-free voting till 4 pm.

Mandar used to be a Naxal hotbed a few years back. Hyper-sensitive booths would be manned by the CRPF and SSB, said officials.

The seat is a tribal reserved seat with a tribal population of around 1.75 lakh.

In the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly, the ruling UPA has 48 MLAs – JMM 30, Congress 17 and RJD one. The NDA has 28 MLAs with BJP having 26 and AJSU two. (ANI)

As the political crisis in Maharashtra further deepened, rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde on Thursday tweeted a letter addressed to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, and captioned it “This is the sentiment of MLAs”.

Shinde shared a letter written by Sena MLA Sanjay Shirsat from the Aurangabad (West) Assembly seat and dated June 22 in which he claimed that the Shiv Sena MLAs did not have access to the chief minister’s residence.
“CM never used to be in the Secretariat, instead, he used to be in Matoshree (Thackeray residence). We used to call people around the CM but they never used to attend our calls. We were fed up with all these things and persuaded Eknath Shinde to take this step,” the MLA wrote in the letter.

“It was nice to see people are being allowed inside your Bungalow but these doors were closed for us elected MLAs. We came with our problems in our constituencies and other work, but were made to remain outside for hours together. Eknath Shinde was on the other hand was accessible. We stood at the gates of ‘Varsha’ for hours. It was only Eknath Shinde who supported us,” the letter further added.

The letter also alleged that “People around the CM used to decide if we can meet him or not. We felt we were insulted. CM never used to be in the Secretariat, instead, he used to be in Matoshree (Thackeray residence). We used to call people around the CM but they never used to attend our calls. We were fed up with all these things and persuaded Eknath Shinde to take this step.”

“While we weren’t able to meet the CM, people from our ‘real opposition’– the Congress and the NCP used to get opportunities to meet him and even funds were given to them related to work in their constituencies. When Hindutva and Ram Mandir are crucial issues for the party, then why did the party stop us from visiting Ayodhya? MLAs were called and were stopped from going to Ayodhya during Aaditya Thackeray’s visit to Ayodhya.”

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut said that party was still strong and that the rebels were not true “bhakts” (devotees) of Bal Thackeray adding that everyone will see that when the floor test happens. Notably, a total of 42 Maharashtra MLAs are present with Eknath Shinde at a hotel in Assam’s Guwahati. This includes 34 MLAs from Shiv Sena and eight Independent MLAs, informed sources.

Moreover, a resolution passed by the Shiv Sena Legislature Party carrying signatures of 34 MLAs that rebel leader Eknath Shinde continues to be the leader, has been sent to the state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.

Additionally, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray left his official residence ‘Varsha’ along with his family members on Wednesday hours after he expressed his readiness to step down if rebel MLAs returned to Mumbai and made such a demand.

Following the political crisis, Shiv Sena had removed Eknath Shinde as the party’s legislative party leader. However, the rebels have hit back with a resolution which stated that Shiv Sena’s ideology has been compromised in the past two years. They also expressed their dissatisfaction with “corruption in government,” referring to Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik, who are currently in jail.” (ANI)

The government should use minimum support price (MSP) as a tool for both encouraging crops which are in short supply like oilseeds and pulses, and disincentivise crops such as wheat and rice which are in abundance, said edible oil industry body The Solvent Extractors’ Association of India.

India fulfils a sizable portion of its edible oil and pulses needs via imports, and spends a large part of its foreign exchange reserves on them.
The industry body urged the Centre to offer higher MSP or special incentives, particularly to farmers from Punjab and Haryana, for shifting their area from rice to maize in kharif and to rapeseed or mustard from wheat in rabi crop.

Haryana are Punjab are the two major growers of the staple foodgrain.

Notably, the Government recently raised the MSP for groundnut by 5.41 per cent, sunflower seed by 6.40 per cent, and soybean by 8.86, purportedly to encourage the sowing of these crops on a large area of land.

Further, on monsoon, the industry body said it is heartening to note that India’s annual monsoon rainfall has covered more than half of the country, while conditions are favourable for it to advance into central, northern and western regions during this week.

The monsoon’s progress will help farmers accelerate sowing of summer-sown crops, which has been lagging due to below-normal rainfall in the first half of June, especially in central India.

“The latest Agri Ministry report indicates oilseed sowing is down by 18 per cent compared to same period of last year and reported at 475,000 hectare but now sowing has picked up due to revival of monsoon,” it said.

The monsoon has covered all of southern and eastern India and most of the central state of Madhya Pradesh, the industry body said quoting India Meteorological Department’s latest statement.

Moreover, on the Centre’s recent announcement of tariff-rate quota on soybean and sunflower oil for imports of total of 4 million tonne, it said that zero duty could be disastrous in case price of these two commodities fall in the international market.

“Crude palmoil price crashed from the highest of $2,010 in March 2022 by $ 625, while soybean oil down by $384 and sunflower oil by $285. Also, considering the lifting of the export ban on crude palm oil by Indonesia, increase in availability of sunflower oil from Ukraine by road through neighboring countries and expected higher production of palm oil and soya oil in the world will push the price further down,” it said.

By allowing imports at nil duty, the move can prove disastrous for our domestic oilseed farmers, it said.

“We have strongly suggested to the Government that TRQ is no longer required as the basic objective of reducing inflationary burden on consumers has already been met with massive fall in import prices of palm, soya and sun oil,” the industry body said, adding that the need of the hour is to ensure markets don’t slide further as it will dishearten our oilseed farmers and impact our long term goal of augmenting oilseed production in the country. (ANI)

In the wake of the Durand line dispute between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Afghan travellers have complained of facing challenges along with the Spin Boldak and Chaman crossings.

This comes after Pakistan showcased adamancy to fence the Durand Line to secure the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Bismillah, who is a resident of Ghazni, said that he has tried twice to cross into Pakistan but has not been allowed, TOLOnews reported.

“We were not allowed, we were told that we should have a passport or a sick visa in order to pass at the crossing,” said Bismillah, a resident of Ghazni.

The people living adjacent to Durand Line, especially around Qila Abdullah and Chaman, can cross with either Kandahar-issued or Pakistani ID cards, while other Afghans with legal documents must wait several days.

According to TOLOnews, sometimes even those residents of Kandahar who have ID cards and legal documents cannot cross.

“Yesterday I went three times to the crossing, they sent us back, there were women also with us, they mistreated us and also the women. They threw away our IDs,” Abdul Rahman Shah, a resident of Uruzgan, told TOLOnews.

Local officials in Kandahar said that they are trying to solve this problem through dialogue with Pakistani officials, however, no conclusions have been drawn from the talks.

In Pakistan, most of the problems precipitating cross-border threats in the Af-Pak region are created from within by flawed state policies as the nation’s politics have been plagued by failures in establishing an equitable existence for its ethnically divided population, living on both sides of the border disturbing their agricultural land, traditional border trade and movement of labour.

The ethnic consciousness of Pashtuns and Balochis in Kyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan is essentially arising out of this sense of alienation and deprivation. As a consequence, border areas have experienced tribal insurgencies, ethnic and sectarian struggles and secessionist movements by Balochis and Pashtuns.

Pakistan’s contention that the Af-Pak border is plagued with cross-border movement of terror groups, infiltration, illegal immigration, smuggling and drug trafficking may be valid to some extent.

In the current year till May 1st, 2022, there have been around 40 clashes along the Durand Line most of which pertain to the border dispute. More than 40 people died when rockets were fired from Pakistan Air Force (PAF) helicopters in Kunar, Khost, Paktika and other bordering provinces on April 16, 2022.

The Durand Line passes through the present-day Pakistani provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (NWFP), Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Balochistan. It also includes 10 provinces in Afghanistan. Disputed in the context of the struggle for the Pashtun homeland, the Durand Line has of late become the cause of heightened border tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan. (ANI)

After Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said that his party is ready to exit the Maha Vikas Aghadi government if the rebel MLAs are willing, Congress on Thursday has called a meeting of its leaders at 4 pm.

According to sources, Congress is unhappy with the statement of Shiv Sena leader and convened a meeting at the Sahyadri guest house in this regard.
Senior Congress leaders including HK Patil, Balasaheb Thorat, Nana Patole and Ashok Chavan are participating in meeting.

Speaking to ANI, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole said that the party is with Shiv Sena to stop the BJP from coming to power in the state.

“We’re with them (Shiv Sena) to stop BJP from coming to power. This game is happening due to ED…Congress is ready for the floor test. We’re with MVA and will remain. If they(Shiv Sena) want to form an alliance with anyone, we don’t have a problem,” he said.

Earlier today, Raut said, “MLAs should not communicate from Guwahati, they should come back to Mumbai and discuss all this with CM. We are ready to consider exiting out of MVA if this is the will of all MLAs, but for that, they have to come here and discuss it with the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray”.

Raut further claimed that 21 MLAs in Guwahati have contacted Shiv Sena and when they return to Mumbai they will be with the party.

“Uddhav Thackeray will come back to Varsha very soon. 21 MLAs in Guwahati have contacted us and when they return to Mumbai, they will be with us,” he added.

NCP leader Jayant Patil tweeted, “Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi is a government established for the development and welfare of Maharashtra. We will stand firmly with Uddhavji Thackeray till the end.”

Meanwhile, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and the central leaders are keeping an eye on the developments in the state.

“Our Maharashtra leader Devendra Fadnavis and all our central leaders are keeping an eye on it. He (Devendra Fadanvis) is capable to take a decision in the interest of the state,” he told ANI.

Rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde on Thursday tweeted a letter addressed to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, and captioned it “This is the sentiment of MLAs”.

According to the letter, the Shiv Sena leaders don’t have access to the chief minister’s residence.

“CM never used to be in the Secretariat, instead, he used to be in Matoshree (Thackeray residence). We used to call people around the CM but they never used to attend our calls. We were fed up with all these things and persuaded Eknath Shinde to take this step,” the MLA wrote in the letter.

“It was nice to see people are being allowed inside your Bungalow but these doors were closed for the elected MLAs. We came with our problems in our constituencies and other work, but were made to remain outside for hours together. On the other hand,Eknath Shinde was accessible. We stood at the gates of Varsha for hours. It was only Eknath Shinde who supported us,” the letter further added.

“People around the CM used to decide if we can meet him or not. We felt we were insulted. CM never used to be in the Secretariat, instead, he used to be in Matoshree (Thackeray residence). We used to call people around the CM but they never used to attend our calls. We were fed up with all these things and persuaded Eknath Shinde to take this step.”

The MLAs further stated in a letter that they were stopped from going to Ayodhya during Aaditya Thackeray’s visit to Ayodhya.

“While we weren’t able to meet the CM, people from our ‘real opposition’– the Congress and the NCP used to get opportunities to meet him and even funds were given to them related to work in their constituencies. When Hindutva and Ram Mandir are crucial issues for the party, then why did the party stop us from visiting Ayodhya? MLAs were called and were stopped from going to Ayodhya during Aaditya Thackeray’s visit to Ayodhya.”

Notably, a total of 42 Maharashtra MLAs are present with Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde while only 13 are with Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and Shiv Sena. (ANI)

Three more Shiv Sena MLAs have joined the rebel group of MLAs led by Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde in Guwahati on Thursday morning further deepening the political instability in the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra.

They reached the Radisson Blu Hotel in Guwahati, where other MLAs are campaigning.
Last night four more MLAs joined Shinde in Guwahati. With this, seven more MLAs have joined the rebel group in the last 24 hours.

Moreover, a resolution passed by the Shiv Sena Legislature Party carrying signatures of 34 MLAs that rebel leader Eknath Shinde continues to be the leader, has been sent to the state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray left his official residence ‘Varsha’ along with his family members on Wednesday hours after he expressed his readiness to step down if rebel MLAs returned to Mumbai and made such a demand.

Shiv Sena workers and supporters showered petals and raised slogans in support of Thackeray when he left with his family from his official residence ‘Versha Bungalow’, last night amid political instability in the state.

Following the political crisis, Shiv Sena had removed Eknath Shinde as the party’s legislative party leader. However, the rebels have hit back with the resolution.

The resolution said that Shiv Sena’s ideology has been compromised in the past two years. They also expressed their dissatisfaction with “corruption in government,” referring to Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik, who are currently in jail.

“Bharat Gogawale has been appointed as the Chief Whip of Shiv Sena Legislative Party. So, the order issued by Sunil Prabhu, regarding the Legislative Party meeting this evening is illegal,” Eknath Shinde had said.

Earlier, Thackeray addressed the people of the state via Facebook and said he was willing to give his resignation to party MLAs who can take it to Raj Bhavan.

Noting that a section of party MLAs was gunning for his ouster, he said instead of going to Surat, they could have conveyed their feelings to him. Thackeray said it is a matter of shame for him if “even a single MLA” was against him.

“If any MLA wants me to not continue as the CM, I am ready to take all my belongings from Varsha Bungalow (official residence of the CM) to Matoshri,” Thackeray said.

“I am ready to give my resignation to the MLAs, they should come here and take my resignation to Raj Bhavan. I am ready to leave the post of Shiv Sena party head also, not on the saying of others but my workers,” he added.

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut expressed confidence of Shiv Sena sailing through the crisis.

“Uddhav Thackeray is Maharashtra Chief Minister and he will remain the CM. If we get the chance, we will prove our majority on the floor of the House,” he said.

However, the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs have said that there is enormous discontent amongst the party workers for forming the government with NCP and Indian National Congress on account of different ideologies. (ANI)

Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan alleged that the Uttar Pradesh Police ‘wreaked havoc’ on the eve of the Lok Sabha by-polls in Azamgarh and Rampur parliamentary seats on Thursday.

According to Khan, the UP police “indecently” behaved with the SP Lok Sabha candidate on the night of the Lok Sabha bypolls.
“I have been up all night. Our Lok Sabha candidates went to Ganj PS, Kotwali PS, Civil Lines PS (in Rampur). The most indecent behaviour was by the inspector of Ganj PS, he even did violence… blame’s on admin if polling percentage drops,” said SP leader Azam Khan.

“If polling percentage (for LS by-polls) drops, the blame is also on government. They wreaked havoc overnight. Jeeps and sirens were everywhere in the city (Rampur); they took people to the PS and beat them up and I’ve heard of some money transfers as well. It’s shameful,” added Khan.

“I’m a criminal, I accept… so my city has also been presumed to be the same. They can do whatever they want, we have to endure. If I want to stay, I have to endure”, the SP leader Azam Khan added after claiming police violence on the night of Lok Sabha by-polls.

There are several criminal cases allegedly lodged against Khan.

Voting for bye-elections to the Azamgarh and Rampur Lok Sabha constituency is underway in Uttar Pradesh.

The bye-elections to the Azamgarh seat were necessitated due to the resignation of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who was elected to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly as an MLA in the elections earlier this year.

Seats fell vacant in Azamgarh and Rampur after Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders Akhilesh Yadav and Azam Khan resigned as MPs from the seats after winning in the 2022 Assembly elections.

Akhilesh was elected as an MLA from the Karhal assembly seat while Azam Khan was elected from the Rampur Sadar constituency.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Samajwadi Party had contested the polls in alliance with the BSP and Azam had won from Rampur.

From Rampur, the BJP has fielded Ghanshyam Singh Lodhi, who recently joined the party, while the SP has fielded Asim Raja, handpicked by Khan.

Mayawati-led BSP is not contesting from Rampur.

The Azamgarh seat will be contested by BJP’s Dinesh Lal Yadav ‘Nirhua’, a famous Bhojpuri actor-singer, SP’s Dharmendra Yadav, and BSP’s Shah Alam alias Guddu Jamali. (ANI)